Metallic soap composition



Patented June 6, 1944 'umrso STATES PATENT cranes I I w y Q Ms'rarmc soar COMPOSITION Francis J. mew Yet-Kmart! Joseph Home Oil Products Company, poration of New Jersey No Drawing. Application August}, 1940.,

SerialNo. 351,110

and to polyvalent metal soap solutions suitable for waterproofing purposes.

As is well known in the art, aluminum soaps such as aluminum stearate, aluminum palmitate and the like may be dissolved-insolvents such as toluol, etc. in order to form solutions which are useful for waterproofing materials such as bricks, cloth, paper, etc. While these solutions have many valuable properties and have been widely used, the aluminum soaps contained therein are ordinarily not very soluble in easily available solvents, as is evidenced by the fact that the solutions now on the market usually contain only about 2% to 3% of the soap. Hence storage or transportation of such solvents necessitates storing or transporting large quantities of solvent,

which is not particularly economical. Moreover it is usually not feasible to store or ship the alu- ,minum soap and then prepare the desired solution when needed, since these soaps tend to become more and more insoluble with age. As a result there has been an extensive demand in the industry for stable aluminum soap solutions containing substantially more than 2% to 3% of the soap. i

It has been proposed to employ aluminum soap solutions for waterproofing textiles and other fibrous materials; this proposal has met with some degree of'success because of the excellent waterproofing properties imparted to the textiles by soaps such as aluminum stearate. However, it hasbeen found that soaps of the type of aluminum stearate are relatively soluble in petroleum of the paramn wax and thus make it more suitable for waterproofing objects to be subjected to somewhat elevated temperatures. While, this use of aluminum stearate has met with considerable success, there has been a demand for a soap whichcouldbe'mixedwithparaiiinwaxsoasto yield a mixture having a somewhat higher meltate.

to National Harrison, N. 1., a coring point than is attainable with aluminum stear- It is an object polyvalent metal soaps.

It is a more specific object of this invention to provide solutions of polyvalent metal soaps which may be employed for waterproofing purposes so as to yield objects having waterproof coatings resistant to the action of petroleum hydrocarbon solvents. I v

It is a further object of this invention to provide polyvalent metal soap compositions which may be blended with materials suchas parafiin wax to yield products having relatively high j v tremely suitable for a. wide variety of purposes.

In the first place these soaps have considerably higher melting points than the corresponding soaps derived from other fatty acids; hence they may be blended with parafiin wax in order to give mixtures having softening points much higher than those heretofore attainable. In the second place the polyvalent metal soaps of our invention are soluble in many relatively high boiling lacquer solvents of the polar type but tend to be relatively insoluble in non-polar solvents such as the petroleum hydrocarbons. Because of the solubility of the polyvalent metal soaps of our invention in such lacquer solvents, solutions of polyvalent metal soaps in such solvents are made available to the trade for waterproofingpurposes; this factor is advantageous because'it permits the production of useful polyvalent metal soap solutions employing solvents which could not heretofore be used for preparing such solutions, and

' parafiin wax in order to raise the softening point thus the field of usefulness of polyvalent metal soaps is considerably broadened. Moreover the polyvalent metal soaps of our invention'are capable of producing waterproof coatings upon fibrous materials which are resistant to petro-l leum hydrocarbon solvents; hence these fibrous materials may be subjected to drycleaning or other similar operations without losing their waterproof characteristics. Our novel soaps may be easily and economically prepared and because of their many important properties will find great use in the trade.

- The aluminum soaps of our invention may be prepared by reacting an alkali metal soap prepared from hydrogenated castor oil or the corresponding fatty acids with a suitable aluminum I r of this invention to provide novel outlined above.

' preparation of our novel soaps may be employed,

salt such as aluminum sulfate. The hydrogenated castor oil may be formed by hydrogenating dium soap in water and then adding suillcient aluminum sulfate to the solution, which is preferably heated, e. g. to about 80 0., so as to cause substantially complete precipitation of the aluminum soap. The aluminum soap thus obtained may then be washed free of soluble salts.-dried-.

and ground in the usual manner. Lead, calcium and zinc soaps of hydrogenated castor oil may also be prepared by following the general method However other methods for the if desired.

The polyvalent metal soaps of our invention are generally white powders. These soaps usually have higher melting points than those of the corresponding soaps derived from other fatty acids. Thus the aluminum soap of our invention melts at 160 C. and the lead soap between 130 and 136 (3.; the corresponding stearates melt at about 140 C. and 105 C. respectively. Analysis indicates that our novel compounds are constituted chiefly of soaps of 12-hydroxy stearic acid.

The aluminum soap of our invention is somewhat soluble in toluol but has a higher gel point in this solvent than aluminum stearate. Because of their relatively high melting points, the soaps of our inventionare of particular value for blending with paramn wax in order to substantially increase the softening point of the paraflin wax without detrimentally affecting the waterproofing characteristics thereof. Other uses for these soaps of our invention will be evident to those skilled in the art from the above description of their properties.

Our extensive experimentations with-regard to the solubility of the polyvalent metalsoaps of our invention have led us to the conclusion that these soaps are generally soluble in relatively high boiling lacquer solvents of the polar type; as is well known, most metallic soaps, e. g. aluminum-stearate, are not soluble in such solvents,"

and hence it has not been possible to employ these readily available solvents for the preparation of polyvalent metal soap solutions. For example, we have found that the aluminum soap of our invention forms stable, clear solutions in sol-' vents such as butanol, amyl acetate, ethylene glycol monoethylether, diethylene glycol monoethylether and the like. The aluminum soap of our invention also possesses the unique property of being soluble in castor oil. Our experiments have also demonstrated that our novel soaps are relatively insoluble in petroleum hydrocarbon sol- I vents such as solvent naphtha and the like.

completely settled from the solution, it was withdrawn, washed, dried and ground to a powder.

. etc. compatible with the solutions may also beincorporated therein.

The solutions of our invention are particularly adaptable for waterproofing fibrous materials of all kinds; thus, for. example, textile materials .waterproofed with the solutions of our invention Example I 1,000 parts ofhydrogenated castoroil having an iodine value of about 4.2 were saponified by reaction with an aqueous solution containing 167 parts of caustic soda. The sodium soap t'hus obtained wasthen dissolved in water in amounts sufiicient to give a soap concentration of about 10%. The temperature of the solution was then raised to about 80 C. and sufficient aluminum sulfate solution was added to completely react with the soap. After the aluminum soap had The resulting product was a white pow'defhiwing a melting point of about 160-C.; it'iblended easily with any desirable amounts of paraflin wax.

Example 11.

'70 parts of butanol were heated to a temperature of about 70 C., and 30 parts of the aluminum soap of hydrogenated castor oil prepared as described in Example I were dissolved therein. Upon cooling, a stable, completely fluid solution was obtained, which was found tobe highly suitable for waterproofing purposes.

Example III 95 parts of amyl acetate were heated to a temperature of about 70 C., and 5 parts of the aluminum soap of hydrogenated castor oil prepared in accordance with Example I were dissolved therein. Upon cooling, a stable, completely fluid solution was obtained, which was found to be highly suitable for waterproofing purposes.

Ewample IV parts of ethylene glycol monoethyl ether were heated to about 70 C. and 5 parts of the aluminum soap of hydrogenated castor oil prepared as described inExample I were dissolved' Example V 95 parts of castor oil were heated to a temperature of about 130 C. and parts of the aluminum soap of hydrogenated castor oil prepared as described in Example I were dissolved therein, whereby a slightly thickened solution was obtained. Upon cooling, the solution remained per fectly clear.

Example VI solution was added to completely react with the soap. After the lead soap had settled from the solution-it was withdrawn, washed, dried and ground to a powder. The resulting product was a white powder having a melting point between v 130 and 136 C. r

Example VII 1000 parts of hydrogenated castor oil having' from the solution, it was withdrawn, washed,

dried and ground to a powder.

From the above description it will be evident that our invention provides new and valuable polyvalent metal soap compositions which may be employed to great advantage for waterproofing articles of all types. The unique resistance of the polyvalent metal soaps 0! our invention to the solvent action of petroleum hydrocarbon solvents makes these soaps superior to polyvalent metal soaps heretofore employed for waterproofing purposes. 'Therefore our invention will undoubtedly be of great interest to those engaged in the manufacture of aluminum and other polyvalent metal soaps.

111a term "polyvalent metal soap is used throughout the specification and claims in the usual manner to include higher fatty acid soaps of heavy metals such as aluminum, calcium, zinc and lead.

Since certain changes in carrying out the above process and certain modifications in the compositions which embody the invention may be made without departing from its scope. it is intended that all matter contained in the above description shall be interpreted as illustrative and not in a limiting sense. I

Having described our invention, what we claim as new and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is:

solvent of the polar type.

the calcium soap of 12-hydroxy stearic acid.

4. A composition of matter comprising chiefly the lead soap of 12-hydroxy stearic acid.

5. A composition of matter comprising chiefly a solution of a polyvalent metal soap of 12-hydroxy stearic acid in a relatively high boiling lacquer solvent of the polar type.

6. A composition of matter comprising chiefly a solution of an aluminum soap ofi2-hydroxy stearic acid in a relatively high boiling lacquer 7. A composition of matter comprising chiefly a solution of an aluminum soap of 12-hydroxy stearic acid in butanol.

8. A composition of matter comprising chiefly a solution of an aluminum soap of 12-hydroxy stearlc acid in amyl acetate.

9. A composition of matter comprising chiefly a solution of an aluminum soap of 12-hydroxy stearic acid in ethylene glycol monoethylether.

10. A process for preparing solutions suitable for waterproofing purposes, which comprises dissolving a' polyvalent metal soap of 12 -hydroxy stearic acid in a relatively high boiling lacquer solvent of the polar type.

11. A process for preparing solutions suitable for waterproofing purposes, which comprises dis solving the aluminum soap of -12-hydroxy stearic acid in a relatively high boiling lacquer solvent of the polar type.

12. A process for preparing solutions suitable for waterproofing purposes, which comprises dissolving the aluminum soap'of lz hydroxy stearic acid in butanol.

13. A process for preparing solutions suitable for waterproofing purposes,.which comprises dissolving the aluminum soap of 12-hydroxystearic acid in amyl acetate.

14. A process for preparing solutions suitable for waterproofing purposes, which comprises dissolving the aluminum soap of 12-hydroxy stearic acid'in ethylene glycol monoethylether.

15. A process for waterproofing fibrous materials .which comprises impregnating the fibrous material with a solution of a polyvalent metal soap of 12-hydroxy stearic acid in a relatively high boiling lacquer solvent of the polar type and evaporating the solvent from the impregnated material.

16. A process for waterproofing fibrous materials which comprises impregnating the fibrous material with a solution 0! the aluminum soap of l2-hydroxy stearic acid in a relatively high boiling lacquer solvent of the polar type and 1 evaporating the solvent from the impreimated material.

' FRANCIS J. LICATA. JOSEPH NOTHUM. 

